Chapter 302: The Grey Spider (1)
It feels like I’ve never felt a refreshing breeze in my life.
The scent of maple leaves was intense in autumn, because there was no other scent at all. Spring was fresh. In summer, it smelled of fish, making every scent revolting.
The ‘Grey Spider’ wished to die every autumn.
-The Witch Clan.
Who came up with such a name?
Witch (魔女) (Manyeo) didn’t simply refer to a mage who practiced magic. In Niglus-Kukulu, the language of this world, the word ‘Ma (魔)’ was laden with nuances of all sorts of hatred and contempt. [Forsaken], [Sacrilegious], [The 23rd], [Cursed].
‘Ye (女)’ didn’t just signify a gender. To begin with, there were more than four genders. The binary concept of male and female didn’t apply.
Mirgal, a word which approximately translates to [Grey]. The 3 primary colors, Red, Green and Blue, dominated the world, while [Grey] needed seeds from other genders to produce offspring.
[The Cursed Grey Race].
The Witch Clan.
The season the ‘Grey Spider’ was born in was autumn.
-Poor thing.
Perhaps the mother didn’t know what she was saying.
-Why be born into such a world…
The mother failed to recognize the true value of her newborn child. The child was born with a natural blessing which made her remember ‘everything seen and heard.’ The child had already heard and felt a lot while in the womb.
The mother gave birth to a genius but didn’t realize it.
-Poor thing…
A handful of moisture.
A bit of blood.
Eyes looking down and a hand caressing the forehead. Sympathy masquerading as love, resignation mimicking comfort, death disguised as life. That was the smell, the smell of a mother.
The smell of autumn.
-Why be born in such a place…
The Grey Spider grew to hate the world.
-I have no particular feelings towards the Elder.
The Guardian Spirit said.
-For me, feelings are actions, Zombie. It’s just that they often don’t show on the surface, but that’s also an act. Maybe feelings just happen as they come? Those who live as life goes on might think so. But not me.
The guardian Spirit crossed his arms.
-I decided not to care about the Elder. If she had invited me to climb the tower together, maybe she would have followed me. We might have even become friends. But I chose not to. Not just the Elder! I didn’t make a single companion.
I asked why.
-Because countless people in this world don’t even get a chance to make companions.
Guardian Spirit looked up at the Magic Tower.
-Only lucky people are able to have friends. Even lovers are obtained by coincidence, Kim Zombie. The fact that you’ve made so many companions, made friends, served a master, and met a loved one, it’s all thanks to luck. Even though it’s a treasure you earned through effort, the mere fact that such people were born is a miracle.
Thud.
We stepped off the last stair and exited the cave.
-Never assume that everyone is granted such luck.
I followed Guardian Spirit’s gaze up to the spires.
-Life with no one by your side exists. Some never experience luck until death. Many lives are betrayed when they hold hope. Such people eventually give up and despair. They no longer see a reason to struggle or aim higher than where they are now.
The Magic Tower truly deserved the prefix Ma.
Buildings are bases for living. They have doors and windows to go out into the world and peek outside.
But the Magic Tower has no doors. It’s dyed black from the top to the bottom. A black that doesn’t reflect the sun, but a black that swallows even sunlight.
Thus, the Magic Tower resembles a body, not a building. It is a will to reject the world, not an extension of it. The finger-like towers seem to rise from the ground, reaching for the sky.
-That’s what I wanted to show them.
I glared at the finger-like towers.
-It’s okay not to have companions.
I counted the seconds in my mind.
-It’s okay not to find love worth dedicating your life to.
23 seconds, 22, 21…
-It’s fine even if fate doesn’t grant you luck.
18 seconds.
-Still, you can ascend.
15 seconds.
-Look! I am the Sword Emperor. I reached the zenith of this world alone. Why did I ascend? Not for the person in front of me. Not for those who lived in my era. They can all go to hell!
5 seconds.
-For those without anything. For those with no one. I ascended the tower to show you, to [prove] to you! Even though no one gave you meaning.
1 second.
-You have already become meaningful to me.
Beeeeep.
A buzzing noise erupted in my mind. Someone was trying to send a telepathy message. It was the Magic Tower.
Merely gazing at the tower for more than 23 seconds was enough to trigger a response. It’s a system. A warning not to look at us, observe us, or even think about crossing us. In a timeline devoured by regression, I had exploited this unwritten rule.
「Ah, ah. Mic test. Mic test. Who’s looking over there?」
As expected, the Magic Tower’s spokesperson sent a message through telepathy.
「Talk nicely before I gouge out your eyes. We’re really stressed these days. We don’t have time to play with psychos. I mean, of course, I love catching those crazy bastards and torturing them, but we’re too busy for that now… Huh? What?」
The drowsy voice suddenly sharpened.
「You’re with the Assistant Writer, aren’t you? Hey, shit. You damned fugitive!」
Beeep!
The telepathy wave intensified. Just as the spokesperson said, the Assistant Writer was beside me.
Looking up at the Magic Tower. I wasn’t the only one who violated the 23-second taboo. The Assistant Writer had also gazed at the tower since exiting the cave.
「You, there. You are dead! How dare you show your face so shamelessly? And being with that writer… You’re the King of Death or whatever? Look at these bastards. Hey! Frickin’ lackeys! Go report to the spiders immediately!」
Also,
It wasn’t just the two of us.
「……?」
Beeeeep!
「…Oh, look at that? It’s not just one madman!」
The telepathy wave fluctuated again. The spokesperson initially targeted me, then the Assistant Writer, and then someone else, sending simultaneous telepathies.
「Fine. You all have gone mad, haven’t you? Good. Ha, this is fun! We’ve already prepared a punitive force for you!」
Beeeeeep.
「We’ve called the colonial garrison from the other towers too! Ha ha! Heard of the ‘Baron of Bone Thorns’? We just called them from headquarters after 300 years, all fired up! You’ll learn how many tiny blood vessels are in your body…」
Beeeeep.
Beeep! Beeeeeeep.
「…I’ll show you! What the hell? Really, what is this? Hey! Hey! You’re really asking for it… Uh, no. Here’s some good news. In the last few days, our proud elite forces have been gathering! It’s been centuries since such a large force assembled! Ah ha ha! Great! Look! The Fallen are ready to deploy—-.」
Beeeeeeeeep!
Beeeeeep! Beep, Beeep!
「…」
Beeep, Beeeeeep! Beeeeep! Beeep!
「………….」
Dozens.
“Uh…”
Hundreds.
“Now,”
Thousands.
“Summon the Elder! Right now!!”
All of us, united in the Anti-Magic Alliance.
The refugees who walked out of the cave through dozens of entrances, the hunters silently holding their drink at the open-air bar, the followers who were bargaining with mat merchants on the streets as usual.
[The Incarnation of Love and Lust declares war on the Magic Tower.]
[The Last Sword in the Wilderness declares war on the Magic Tower.]
[The Lonely Seeker declares war on the Magic Tower.]
[The Eyes Dwelling in the Labyrinth declare war on the Magic Tower.]
[The Bell that Rings for the Dead declares war on the Magic Tower.]
[The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains declares war on the Magic Tower.]
I raised the Sword of Rebellion.
The power that didn’t even permit a gaze.
The Magic Tower, a den of evil, set up an eternal prison on the fiftieth floor.
Our declaration of war started by just looking at it.
-So, I have no regrets.
The Guardian Spirit smiled.
-I lived as I wanted. I showed the unfortunate and unlucky ones who are going to be born endlessly in the future. Ascend! Right now, you have no one by your side. But that’s just a coincidence. Tell coincidence to go to hell, raise your middle finger, and ascend like me. Higher. Higher! Even higher!
The spokesperson no longer spoke to me.
Only sounds of confusion and panic could be heard.
-If you’re concerned about the people I didn’t look after in my past life.
And…
-Look after them, Kim Gong-Ja.
Sccccrrrrreeeeech!
It was a wail, a noise that refused to become sound, a scream. As metal grated on metal, all five spires vibrated in unison, and five fingers raised their nails to tear through the dark sky.
It felt like my body was being torn apart.
“It’s the [Lament of the Tower].”
The Assistant Writer murmured.
It’s been hundreds of years, she swallowed her words.
“…When one tower cries, it’s a [Mockery]. A warning that requires a force enough to subjugate a city. When two towers cry, it’s a [Kick]. It’s the power to conquer a stage. The cry of three towers is used to subjugate another world. When four towers cry, it signifies the intent to subdue multiple worlds.”
“All five towers are crying now.”
“Yes.”
The Assistant Writer nodded.
“[Regardless of who you are, die. We will annihilate you].”
Shadows spread over the five towers.
It seemed like someone threw a stone into the sky. Ripples spread across the gloomy sky. But those ripples were so black that they swallowed the clouds of the fiftieth floor and the few rays of sunlight that leaked through them.
“Good.”
From the inverted shadows, one by one, things fell.
-A time of yearning for war also exists.
A black meteor shower.
-The hungry brats are crying, but our Magic Tower isn’t so generous to just let it go. Cry. If you want to cry, cry. Do as you please.
Each falling meteor was a figure. Mages, witches, beings called spiders, all cloaked in black, were pouring down.
I realized that the shadow covering the sky was a giant summoning circle.
The Magic Tower too, sensing the coming storm, had prepared for summoning in advance.
“Today might be a day that comes only once in a thousand years for you.”
Boom!
Witches holding meteors crashed into the city center. Boom! The open-air bar was destroyed. Shabby houses crumbled. Boom! Boom! Countless meteor showers devastated the streets. Screams echoed.
Dust billowed throughout the city.
“But for us, it’s just another day added to a thousand years.”
Thud.
From beyond the dust cloud, black spiders emerged.
Some held a severed head in their left hand. Others played with a severed arm as if it were a basketball, smiling slyly. Beyond the dust cloud where the spiders emerged, there were no screams or groans.
It was the noise of buildings collapsing.
“The King of Death?”
The spiders murmured.
“Is our prey’s name really the King of Death? The Tower lacks sense.”
“It always has.”
“It always will.”
The spiders were far apart from each other.
Someone destroyed the city’s western gate. Someone else destroyed the northern bar. Another went to the central square’s statue. The ones farthest apart were literally on opposite ends of the city.
Yet, they conversed as if they were huddled together.
“Maybe it’s a less impressive title. The translation could have gone wrong. Maybe it’s something more plausible like the Reaper of the Underworld or the Priest Comforting Ghosts, who knows?”
“Those are probably just worse names which we got wrong.”
“Thanks. I’m happy to see you after 90 years. It’s a relief that your annoying nature hasn’t changed in those years.”
“I’m famously known for calming the hearts of those around me.”
“I hate to admit it, but let me tell you. Comrades, I missed your bullshit!”
“You’re actually a bitch, that’s why.”
“Now I feel like I’m home.”
They casually exchanged telepathies as if it were natural.
Distance didn’t matter. A city’s gap was meaningless.
Their auras traversed the city, heading somewhere. The spider that received it shot the aura to another comrade. In my senses, the aura of thousands of spiders exchanging was clear.
If one were to look down from the sky. It would look like.
“A spider’s web.”
The moment I casually uttered those words.
The spider web covering the city stopped.
I felt gazes.
Multiple gazes.
—–You’re the King of Death?———
Simultaneously. Thousands of tongues whispered.
Someone’s lips moved. Aura flowed. It was, so to speak, the violence of numbers. It wasn’t particularly malicious or cursed. Just the fact that thousands of spiders spoke at once, for a moment, my head swayed.
‘That’s right.’
Blood rushed to my head.
‘These are the beings the Sword Emperor faced.’
My heart pounded.
‘The rulers of the city.’
I gripped the hilt of my sword. Shiny, no, [Goddess of Protection] Hwiya vibrated. Whether a butterfly plunging into a spider’s web is considered suicide or not is determined only by the butterfly’s flapping wings.
“I’ve chosen the right person.”
I smiled.
“I am the King of Death, the successor to the Sword Emperor.”
In that instant, thousands of spiders swarmed me.
